Welcome to the home of the backcountry skiing blog from Off-Piste Magazine. Here we post backcountry ski gear reviews, feature stories and avalanche safety advice, plus ski news, events and more.
Voile HyperDrifter – Modern Powder Slashing for the Traditionalist Voile has long focused on wide powder ski designs. As a dedicated backcountry brand with the famed deep snow of the Wasatch as their testing grounds, it only makes sense. From the early Mountain Surf to the more contemporary Drifter and Charger models, they have been building skis that set the… Read More
Salomon TV Freeski Collective 2020 Movie Trailer Each day is one day closer to getting on snow and skiing . . . Get ready to make the most of it when it gets here. Salomon TV has some motivation for you with their fall/winter 2020 Freeski Collective Movie Trailer
G3 Minimist Climbing Skins I’m a minimalist by nature. Less is more has proven to be a solid motto for most things backcountry skiing. Well, maybe not when it comes to the width of my skis, but today’s wide skis help fuel the less is more mantra, because if you’re gonna slide around on 110-130mm underfoot, you better lighten your… Read More
Candide Thovex Skis the Great Wall of China Candide Thovex skis the Great Wall of China without Snow Candide Thovex never ceases to amaze. I think he’s actually pushing the climate change thing a bit by skiing on everything but snow while we still have snow to ski on, but maybe he’s just securing his future for a world without… Read More
Abandoned – A Film about Lost Ski Areas Abandoned is about a crew of backcountry skiers who set out to explore Colorado’s lost ski areas in hopes to find adventure amongst the ruins. Instead, they discover the truth behind what made these areas close their doors for good and illustrates what skiing used to be like before mega resorts and… Read More
Outdoor Research San Juan Jacket When is the last time you skied in the rain? Hopefully, it’s been long enough that you can’t recall. I ask because many skiers are too concerned with full waterproof protection when choosing a jacket for backcountry skiing. The reality is that the number of days we spend ski touring in truly wet conditions is limited…. Read More
Climbing Skin Maintenance and Glue Refresh Climbing skin glue does not last forever. It gets dirty, becomes patchy and gets gooey. All of these problems can leave your climbing skins performing poorly, and there’s nothing like bad skin glue to wreck an otherwise excellent day of skiing. But there are some climbing skin maintenance and refresh tips to help you avoid… Read More
Ski Mountaineering Harnesses As a skier first and a mountaineer second, it’s not often that I use a harness while ski touring. But when the going gets technical or crevassed, you don’t want to be left wishing you had a harness with you. Here are two great ski mountaineering harnesses that offer no excuse to leave them at home. They… Read More
It’s never too early to inspire your spring and summer volcano ski objectives. The DPS film crew travelled to Chile in search of mountain culture and skiing to brings us WALLMAPU. The Pehuenche people of present-day Chile speak Mapudungun: ‘the language of the land.’ This land, their universe, is known as Wallmapu. Two skiers enter into a breathtaking creation of… Read More
G3 Alpinist+ Climbing Skins – Glide Model I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; climbing skins are one of the most underrated pieces of gear we use. Yet without skins, we can’t do what we do, climb up to ski down. Having used nearly every type of skin available over the years, I have a strong preference for skins… Read More
Eco-Wax Ski Wax Last year we reviewed a product called SnowShed, a silicone-based spray for ski top sheets that helps reduce snow build-up while touring. The spray is environmentally friendly, sourced in the USA and it works to help keep your top sheets free of snow. This season, the company, now called mountainFLOW eco-wax, has expanded their line to include two… Read More
Avalanche Transceiver – Chest Harness or Pants Pocket Standard protocol for wearing an avalanche transceiver has long been strapped to your chest in it’s harness. In the last handful of years, more and more skiers are moving to storing their beacons in a pant pocket. Using a pant pocket makes for convenient access when doing morning transceiver checks, can help… Read More
DPS Shadow Campaign – Ski Photographer DPS Skis presents the latest in their ski film series – Ski Photographer Drawn to the mountains in search of the ski bum lifestyle, Oskar Enander had no intention of ever becoming a ski photographer. Today, Oskar’s iconic and unique perspective is highly sought after in the ski world. And yet, he shoots very… Read More
Defunkify – Enzyme-Based Detergent Review You know the drill. Pull a shirt out of your bag, drawer or off the pile on the floor and see if it passes the sniff test to wear another day. It seems like the older the layer, the lower the chance it will pass the test. Nothing develops it’s own special funk quite like… Read More
Ski Dreams – DPS Cinematic Volume V – The Abbey Getting closer to winter . . . DPS skis offers fresh fuel to stoke the ski dreams. Shadow Campaign Volume V – Episode I – The Abbey A lone skier arrives in town, only to find abysmally wet and soggy conditions. Seeking respite from the rain, he finds solace and redemption… Read More
